by Hoge, Anna M.

See previous entry: Little Home Histories, Part 59 -- A Quaker Centennial.

Jonathan and Abigail Schofield moved from the Aaron Frame home to the brick one-half mile below the Boarding school before 1863. There is no history of when this house was built. It was two stories with six rooms and a lean-to kitchen built over a good spring.

It faced the east and had two doors on the front and was well lighted as all the early built homes were. It burned about the year 1894. The occupants, Perley Pickett and Rebecca Schofield Pickett barely escaped with their lives.

Uncle Jonathan was the first agent here of the Provident Mutual Insurance Company of Philadelphia, Pa., when it was established in 1865. Our father failed to pass the physical examination when examined for insurance and yet lived to be nearly ninety years of age.

The first story of the barn was built in 1863 and was used for a place to crush cane for molasses. The mill was a large horizontal one getting the power from four horses attached to sweeps in the basement, This crushing was operated the entire twenty four hours. Our Aunt Abigail did the work at the boiling shed.

About 1865 or 1866 the other story was raised on the barn. Amasa and Thompson Frame did the carpenter work. This required a large force of men to raise the bents when put together; the bents were forty feet long and sixteen or eighteen feet high. Strong poles with spikes in the end were used to assist in the raising when the bents were too high to use hands. It was found that while the work was in progress, that a mortise was not in place in the sill of the basement, so another had to be made with all possible speed so as not to keep the men waiting too long.

When the boring machine was brought, Peter Sears, an Uncle of William H. Sears, offered to use it. Though not a very strong man in appearance, he was not lacking in energy and quickness and rapidly completed the work. Though this occurred more than seventy-five years ago (as of 1942), it is as vivid to me as though it had been yesterday.

Uncle Jonathan had one daughter, Rebecca, who died in Pittsburg, Pa., in 1899.

Source: Written by: Anna M. Hoge and William G. Steer.

See next entry: Little Home Histories, Part 61 -- Anecdotes of No. 1 and No. 2 Schools.

For the table of contents and first entry in this series, please see: Little Home Histories, Part 01 -- Table of Contents and Introduction.

This entry is adapted from Little Home Histories in Our Early Homes, Belmont County, Ohio, which was published in 1942. Its publication was coordinated by Robert D. and Beulah Patten McDonald. This entry has been reedited for inclusion in the Pierian Press Fulltext eBooks database, and is included on the Stratton House Inn Website by special permission. This entry is licensed for use ONLY on this Website. It may be used for educational purposes and personal pleasure under fair-use provisions via this Website. Please note that the Stratton House Inn iteration of this entry does NOT include the subject headings assigned each chapter for use in the Fulltext eBooks database.

CO-AUTHOR: Steer, William G.

DATABASE: Fulltext eBooks: Copyright (c) 2002 The Pierian Press, Inc. All Rights Reserved
ENTRY NUMBER: EBK30013760

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